Five Kickstarter projects for gadget geeks

While this column tends to focus more on products and services delivered by global tech giants, once in a while it’s fun to shine a light on promising projects from individuals or small teams.

And so in this week’s Surf Report, it’s a look at a few of the more interesting Kickstarter campaigns that leverage crowdfunding to support their cause.

The following are five examples of what’s available, whether you’re curious to see what’s coming soon or perhaps want to back a project to be one of the first to get it.

Be sure to visit each Kickstarter page for specifics, such as number of backers, total amount raised to date, pledge goal, and when the campaign is coming to a close.

Fathom One

Why should aerial drones get all the fun? The Fathom One ($599) is an underwater drone with a high-definition camera and modular design that lets you add or remove custom thrusters, lights, sensor, and other accessories. Built to be portable, easy to use, and roughly half the cost of competing underwater drones, says Fathom, this tech toy is ideal for curious explorers, scuba divers, and filmmakers alike. Fathom One ships with a 100-foot line that tethers it to a Wi-Fi-enabled floating buoy, enabling wireless piloting and live HD video streaming to any Android or iOS device via an app. Battery life tops one hour between charges.

WELT: The Wellness Belt

You’ve heard of smartphones, smartwatches and smart homes – and now there are smart belts, too. The Welt, short for “wellness belt,” tracks a few main health indicators: activity (with its integrated pedometer that tracks your steps, estimate calories burned, and how much you sit); waist size (measuring changes in your waist’s circumference, from 28 to 44 inches, in real time); and caloric intake (via an app, and with goal setting). Powered by a 20-day battery (and charged through a microUSB port), these WELTs are available in multiple styles, materials, and colors. The campaign has raised more than half its investment goal, to date, and with more than a month left; the limited “Early Bird” pledge costs $69.

Playbulb string

If you’re not familiar with Mipow’s existing Playbulb products, they’re affordable and colorful connected lights you control via an app. Mipow’s Kickstarter campaign has set its sights on the holidays with the Playbulb string – a.k.a. high-tech Christmas lights – that let you select colors from the entire spectrum, adjust brightness and choose lighting effect, too (flashing, pulsing, rainbow, and more). Ideal for indoor or outdoor use, this Playbulb product includes the main 33-foot string of lights, a 16-foot extension string, USB adaptor, and cloth bag. Other features include an easy-to-use app, says Mipow, IP65-rated (waterproof) protection, and the option to string up to five Playbulbs together. “Early Bird” pledge is $59, but there aren’t many left at the time of writing this.

Dot: The Physical Push Notification

More than 750 backers have pledged nearly $60,000 – three times the campaign’s goal – to get their hands on a “Dot,” which can best be described as a tiny Bluetooth sensor that pushes contextually-relevant notifications to your phone when you’re near it. Or in some cases, these dots simply display a colorful reminder to do something, when and where you need the prompt. In other words, Kunal Chaudhary’s Dot is a digital Post-It note, of sorts. Rather than needing to open apps, Dot can have apps open automatically when triggered, such as opening Waze when you step in the car, playing music your Sonos when you walk in the door, and turning on a light when you enter a room. These smart assistants work with an iOS and Android app. Pledge $20 or more to be one of the first to get a Dot.

The Superbook

With nearly $3 million dollars raised by more than 16,000 backers, it seems there’s quite an appetite for the Superbook, which claims to turn your Android smartphone into a laptop for $99. Andromium’s clamshell device resembles a laptop, but you simply connect your smartphone to access all of your apps, contacts and files using a keyboard, multi-touch trackpad, and large 11.6-inch HD screen. With 8 hours of battery and phone charging capabilities, it’s easy to see the appeal of this “plug and play” laptop shell for your favorite mobile device. The only completed Kickstarter campaign in this round-up, Superbook is the most funded technology-based Kickstarter project in history (for hardware). Estimated delivery for backers is February 2017, but no word yet on if we’ll see it commercially available.

Columnist Marc Saltzman writes on tech devices and trends for USA TODAY. Follow Marc on Twitter: @marc_saltzman.